The invention relates to an extracorporeal blood chamber, to an extracorporeal blood line and to an apparatus for treatment of extracorporeal blood.
In particular the extracorporeal blood chamber is for air/liquid separation and/or for the mixing of two liquids, for example blood and an infusion liquid.
Specifically, though not exclusively, the invention can be usefully applied in a hemo(dia)filtration system for mixing extracorporeal blood with a replacement fluid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,540 describes an extracorporeal blood chamber provided with an expansion chamber having on a bottom thereof a first and a second access and at the top thereof at least a third access; the blood chamber is further provided with a first and a second conduit, terminating respectively in the first and second accesses, and with a third conduit terminating in the first conduit. In use the first and the second conduit transport blood, while the third conduit transports an infusion liquid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,606 describes an extracorporeal blood chamber provided with an expansion chamber having at a bottom thereof a first access, on a side thereof a second access, and at a top thereof two further accesses; the blood chamber also has a first and a second conduit terminating respectively in the first and the second access. In use the first and the second conduit transport blood, while one of the top accesses is connected to an injection tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,251 describes an extracorporeal blood chamber provided with an expansion chamber having at a bottom thereof a first access, on a side thereof a second access, and at a top thereof another two accesses; the blood chamber further has a conduit terminating in the first lateral access. In use the first and the second access are for the passage of blood, while one of the top accesses is for passage of an infusion liquid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,598 describes an extracorporeal blood chamber provided with an expansion chamber having on a bottom thereof a first access and on a side thereof a second access; the blood chamber also has a first conduit terminating in the first access, a second conduit terminating in the second access, and a third conduit terminating in the first conduit. In use the first and the second conduits transport blood, while the third conduit transports an infusion liquid.
The prior-art extracorporeal blood chambers can be improved upon in relation to the effectiveness of the mixing between the blood and the infusion liquid, especially in the case of a hemo(dia)filtration treatment with mixing between the blood and the replacement liquid upstream of the hemo(dia)filter (pre-dilution). In a case of pre-dilution the effectiveness of the hemo(dia)filtration treatment depends on the degree of mixing between the blood and the replacement liquid at the inlet of the hemo(dia)filter.